Mentally Ill Man Fatally Shot In Petworth

*this work is a piece of fiction by the author Aaron Goggans (who is alive), an attempt to process the pain of recent events.*

The Suspect Posing for a Photo [taken from Facebook]

Earlier today DC police fatally shot a mentally ill man in Petworth after a brief stand-off in front of the man’s home. Police are reporting that Aaron Goggans, 26, was shot multiple times in front of his house after getting in a verbal altercation with two veteran police officers.

The Metropolitan Police Department [MPD] is not releasing the names of the two police officers but in official statement Police Chief Cathy Lanier said “based on the statements of the two officers and the statements of friends of the victim it’s pretty clear that the victim, who we have since learned had a history of mental illness, has stopped taking his medication.”

Witnesses say that police stopped the recent transplant from the South-Side of Chicago for unknown reasons. “The dude was clearly nervous. From across the street it looked like he was scared of police and was wearing a dark hoodie,” says neighbor and eye witness Mark St. Claire.

In the hours since the shooting Fox news has learned that Mr. Goggans was diagnosed with Bi-Polar disorder in 2007 and has struggled with the illness ever since. Bi-Polar individuals are frequently violent and can sometimes require institutionalization. Despite several incidences of suicidal ideations Mr. Goggans decided to stop taking medications in late 2011 without the consent of a treating psychologist.

An officer close to the case who refused to go on record told channel 7 “You see this a lot out here. These guys say that the medications make them feel worse so they stop taking it. They feel better for a while but then they just snap and…welll…something like this happens.”

After some recent stints of under-employment, Mr. Goggans had recently found steady employment at a local non-profit. Sources say that he seemed generally happy and stable for a number of weeks but recently began seeming more tired and withdrawn.

“He was taking the all this police brutality stuff really hard. It seems like everything he was posting on Facebook was about another death and how much pain he felt,” says a friend familiar with his social media presence “we were all really concerned about him but we never thought this would happen.”

According to the police, Mr. Goggans behavior was erratic and “extreme” after a routine stop on patrol. After a few seconds of conversation the victim made a series of movements with his hands at which point officers opened fire.

“While the facts of the case are still coming on in, based on the history of the victim it seems pretty clear what happened here. In accordance with standard procedure, the officers will be on paid leave until the investigation is concluded at which point we expect them to be fully exonerated,” Lanier said in a brief written statement.

Sources close to the family say that funeral services will be held this weekend.

[neither the family of the victim nor any one close to them were willing to comment on the story by press time]

*update: post originally said that the victim was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in 2005 but has been corrected.

*update: post originally said that the victim had a history of institutionalization but that has been redacted.

*update: post originally said that victim was a suspect in a robbery.

*update: post originally said that victim was shot in front twice but conflicting reports have caused us to decide not to speculate on the exact manner of death.

*update: post originally said that victim was armed.

*update: post originally said that victim smelled like weed.

*update: post originally referred to victim as a suspect.

*update: post originally said that victim looked like a demon

*update: post originally said that victim’s body laid in the street for 4.5 hours as a warning to all other Black people to stay in line.

*update: post originally said that the suspect shouldn’t have been wearing a hoodie.

*update: post originally said that the suspect’s father ran out on him when he was little.

*update: post originally identified the victim as only 3/5ths of a person.

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